WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Troeckler, Adams help SIUE to win

Cougars use big 2nd half in home victory

SIUE freshman Allie Troeckler plays defense during the first half of Wednesday’s Ohio Valley Conference game against Austin Peay inside the Vadalabene Center.

SIUE freshman Allie Troeckler plays defense during the first half of Wednesday’s Ohio Valley Conference game against Austin Peay inside the Vadalabene Center.

Image
1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1 | SIUE freshman Allie Troeckler

SIUE freshman Allie Troeckler plays defense during the first half of Wednesday’s Ohio Valley Conference game against Austin Peay inside the Vadalabene Center.

SIUE freshman Allie Troeckler plays defense during the first half of Wednesday’s Ohio Valley Conference game against Austin Peay inside the Vadalabene Center.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Troeckler, Adams help SIUE to win

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

EDWARDSVILLE -- Freshman Allie Troeckler put the SIUE Cougars in position to win Senior Night, and Gwen Adams helped seal the victory in her final home game.

Troeckler scored a career-high 18 points and Adams scored five points during a 10-0 run for the Cougars to close out a 67-55 victory over Austin Peay on Wednesday inside the Vadalabene Center.

“It was a good game. I’m excited about it. My teammates were finding me when I was open,” said Troeckler, whose previous career high was 15 points against UT-Martin on Jan. 20.

SIUE is now 16-12, including 13-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

With only a road game against Eastern Illinois remaining in the regular season, SIUE is currently percentage points ahead of UT-Martin (12-4 jun the OVC) for the No. 2 seed behind Belmont (17-0).

UT-Martin closes the regular season at Morehead State tonight and at Southeast Missouri on Saturday.

Austin Peay falls to 15-13, including 8-9 in the OVC.

The Lady Governors outrebounded the Cougars 23-10, including 9-1 on the offensive glass, and led 29-25 at halftime.

“To say I was disappointed in our first half would be an understatement. I wash’t pleased. It wasn’t with the score on the scoreboard but how we were playing,” SIUE coach Paula Buscher said. “We were flat and not patient on the offensive end.”

SIUE, which had a 38-18 rebounding advantage in a 61-38 win over Austin Peay earlier in the season, picked up the pace in the second half.

The Cougars started on an 8-0 run, with Troeckler’s lay-in putting SIUE ahead 33-29 with 6:26 left in the third.

“That group played at an extremely high level with intensity. That made a difference,” Buscher said.

SIUE never trailed the rest of the way, though Austin Peay threatened a number of times.

The Cougars used a 10-0 run, highlighted by six points from Troeckler and four from Sydney Bauman, to go ahead 54-43 with 4:28 left in the game.

“We put Allie in and she picked up two offensive putbacks within minutes. That’s doing the little things,” Buscher said.

Austin Peay cut the lead to 57-55 with three minutes left on a 3-pointer by Falon Baker, capping an 8-0 run in 30 seconds.

Jay’Nee Alston answered for the Cougars, rattling in a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to push the lead back to 60-55.

“That was a huge shot. It’s a one-possession game and we’re looking to lock down on defense and then Jay’Nee hits that shot,” Adams said.

Adams later scored on consecutive possessions to put the game away.

“We came out with a lot more energy in the second half than we did to start the game,” said Adams, who finished with 14 points and five rebounds.